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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

This
person has said so eloquently what Ukrainians have been trying to get
the world to understand. Although I would not call it an "outburst."

Vasyl Pawlowsky shared Kora Smirnova's photo.

An emotional but sincere outburst of pro-Ukrainian fervor by Kora Smirnova:

“I’m a Smirnov and I never forget that my grandfather and his family
came to Ukraine from Russia after the war partitioned the land. I'm
grateful that Ukraine accepted us foreigners, gave us a home, work,
security—and never offended us. No one in my entire life has ever
complained that I spoke my native language and that I sing my country’s
folk songs. No one has ever called me a ‘moskal'ka.’

“I was
born in Poltava. Ukraine fed me and raised me as one of her own. When I
moved to Kyiv, I never once heard the word ‘limit.’ I’m 100% Ukrainian,
although I have not one drop of Ukrainian blood! Why is it that I never
think of shouting, ‘I’m Russian. There are lots of us Russians here, so
this land belongs to Russia!’?

“The rest of the Russians in
Ukraine, what? Has your memory entirely failed you? What do you mean
‘this is our land’? Thankless wretches! You are all guests here, whom
the country has given you shelter and received you like its own. What
kind of bastard do you have to be to now chase out and kill the owners,
screaming that this is ‘our home’?! ‘Crimea is Russian’? Bastards with
short memories! Have you forgotten what your forefathers did with the
Tatars? Have you forgotten how much blood of Tatar men was shed and how
many tears and grief we brought to the original population there? How
entire Tatar families were packed and moved to Siberia?

“Yes,
you all will have to spend another millennium on your knees now, begging
for their forgiveness! I’m a Russian Ukrainian! And I’m prepared to
chase out Moskali from my dear Ukraine with a sword to their necks,
together with my dear Ukrainians!

“PS: Stepan Bandera was a
hero of Ukraine who spent all his life fighting, with everything that he
had, for Ukraine’s freedom! So, yep, I’m a ‘banderivka’!”

Thursday, March 6, 2014

will not happen. My travel agency informed my travel agent and me back in late November that they could not approve travel to Ukraine, for safety. This was when the protest situation in Kyiv were still peaceful. A wise decision, and the folks who signed up were relieved. Hoping and praying that all will be ok for next summer. See you then.

I submitted this OpEd to a few publications..... no luck. So, I hope this gets out. You may share. I am appalled at the pundits and "experts" spouting the Russian and Soviet lines. For them, Ukrainians are not worth the attention, and the nation doesn't count. Disgusting. And the media still invite them on to comment. Check out https://www.facebook.com/emaidanua and other reputable Ukrainian sites.

______

UKRAINE’S NEVERENDING STORY

Orysia Tracz

He waited until after the Olympics, as was expected.Then he struck.Putin proved what Ukrainians have been trying
to tell the world for years, but no one would listen.Finally now, with such disastrous results,
Ukrainians are saying “we told you so.”

One thing the world finally realized after the Maidan
revolution is that Ukraine really is not Russia, and Russia is not
Ukraine.These are two separate nations.But throughout Ukraine’s history, it has been
a poor rich nation -- rich in geographical location, natural resources, and
people, and poor because of greedy neighbours on all sides who wanted those
riches, human and natural.Ukraine’s
history has been one of invasion, occupation, persecution, and
subjugation.The few bright lights were
wars of independence, some successful for short periods of time until the
invasions began anew.There were no wars
of invasion by Ukraine towards any other nation, just defensive ones.

The occupiers, from the north, west, or southwest,
treated the native Ukrainian population as inferior, banning the language (“it
never was and never will be”), and yet appropriating the best of Ukrainian
culture and science under their own umbrellas.Whether in tsarist or Soviet times, the people were not free, and were
not free to be themselves, to be Ukrainian.With all the international political agreements and treaties, and with
the Soviets/Russians being Allies at the time, Ukraine lost ethnographic
territory after World War II.Ukrainians, living on their ancestral lands for ages and, not moving a
step, now became Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Rumanian, and Slovak
citizens.The political powers never
bothered to ask them.As for the Crimea,
it was not Khrushchev’s to “give” to Ukraine.When you steal something, is it yours to give?Tsarina Catherine II invaded Ukraine,
including the Crimea.The majority of
the population was Crimean Tatars whom, after World War II, Stalin deported to
Central Asia.They have been returning
to their ancestral home, and support Ukraine.The Russians began arriving there under Soviet times, to a place warmer
than Russia.

Why is there a Russian-speaking part of Ukraine?It was not always so – Ukraine was
Ukrainian.But Russians moved into
eastern and southern Ukraine with Soviet industrialization, Stalin’s great
project in the 1920s-1930s.Then most Russians
moved into Ukraine for the prime real estate when empty Ukrainian villages conveniently
became available.This was after
millions upon millions of Ukrainians were forcibly starved to death during the
Holodomor of 1932-33 as grain was being exported by the USSR from the
breadbasket of Europe.

The pretext for the Russian invasion of the Crimea is a
crock.It is the Sudeten issue all over
again.Russians and Russian-speakers in
Ukraine have not been persecuted, and do not need “protection.”Their language was never in danger.But they did not respect the foreign country
in which they were and are living to learn Ukrainian.Whether during Soviet times or in independent
Ukraine, Russian was a common and even dominant language in many areas.Russians strongly “implied” over the years
that Russian is a “prestigious” language, and Ukrainian is “just a peasant
language”.

The Soviet/Russian thing was and is such a misnomer.In theory, Russia was one of the fifteen
equal Soviet Socialist Republics. But, as Orwell wrote, one was so much more
equal than others.In fact, Orwell’s Animal Farm was based on
collectivization and the Holodomor.When
it benefited the Russians, Soviet equaled Russian.For them, the two terms were synonymous.But they should not have been.For example, it was not 20 million Russians
who perished in World War II.It was
approximately 20 million Soviets.Of
those, about 10 million were Ukrainians, who perished between 1939-1945, killed
by both the Nazis and the Soviets.Twenty percent of those who perished during the war were Ukrainian, the
largest number of all the dead lost by a nation in the war.

In 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the referendum on Ukraine had 90.3% of Ukrainians (in the whole country, incl. Crimea) voting for independence.

Pro-Russian propaganda has worked wonders in the world,
especially in the media.For many
“experts” and commentators, Ukraine still does not exist and has no right to
exist.In the social media, the trolls
are doing their job.Ukrainians still
have to fight to get the truth out.It
seems that in this doublespeak world, other peoples can fight wars of
independence, but not when it comes to the Ukrainians.Maybe with this latest hellish action by
Putin, the truth has come out and the world will understand.But it will not do much.

As a daughter of parents who
survived World War II, and who lost a baby daughter to the Nazis and many
family members to the Russians, I cannot be silent.

Orysia Tracz is a Winnipeg writer, translator, speaker,
and interpreter.

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ABOUT ME

I'm a writer, translator, and speaker, mostly on things Ukrainian. People often turn to me for information on Ukrainian traditions, costumes, culture, and all related "stuff." If I don't know, I try to find out. On this blog, will share links to my various articles on (hopefully) interesting topics.
I retired from the University of Manitoba Libraries in September 2010. Have been trying to catch up to myself every since (the story of my life)....

Prairie Fire -- "Echoes from Ukrainian Canada."Special issue on Ukrainian Canadian literature, October 1992. Co-initiator of issue and member of guest editorial board.One non-fiction work and one review.

Spirit of Ukraine:500 Years of Ukrainian Painting.Winnipeg:Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1991.Co-editor (one of four) and translator.

Carpathia Credit Union -- 50 Years of Service to the Community.Winnipeg:Carpathia Credit Union, 1990.Co-author with Dr. Halyna Muchin.

Writer of three anniversary brochures for the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Winnipeg:1972, English text; 1979, Ukrainian text; 1982, Ukrainian and English text.

Over 400 published articles in numerous publications -- The Globe and Mail, Winnipeg Free Press, Prairie Fire, University of Manitoba Alumni Journal, Prairie Garden, Canadian [Antiques] Collector, Forum: a UkrainianReview, and -- columnist for The UkrainianWeekly (Parsippany, New Jersey).

SOME OF MY LECTURE SUBJECTS

Why We Do What We Do:Origins and Symbolism of Ukrainian Traditions

Baba Was Right All Along: Ukrainian Folk Medicine

Songs Your Mother Should Never Have Taught You?Erotic Symbolism in Ukrainian Folk Songs

Konopli - Hemp in Ukrainian Tradition and Life

Perogies on the Prairies: from Ukrainian Village to Mainstream Canada

Origins of Ukrainian Traditions

Ukrainian Wedding Traditions in Manitoba (and general)

Pysanky - Ukrainian Easter Eggs and What They Mean

Ukrainian Christmas

Symbolism in Ukrainian Songs and in Folk Art

Free-for-all re Things Ukrainian

My 15th Folk Art and Culture Tour of Ukraine in 2012

The dates for 2013 are Aug. 22-Sept. 8. Please book early.

Folks are asking about this tour -- word of mouth is good! But if you are interested, act quickly to be sure to go. You'll need to reserve with Martha Banias at The Great Canadian Travel Company, and also be sure that your passport is not within 6 months of expiring at the time of the trip!